This pair of vases was among eighty-nine pieces of Sèvres porcelain bequeathed with a collection especially rich in eighteenth-century French decorative art by John Jones in 1882. As the handbook to the Jones Collection stated in 1883: "Suddenly ... a collection has been given ... which contains the very objects so much to be desired, and, as it seemed a year ago, so hopeless of attainment." A military tailor who made his fortune during the Crimean War, Jones (1799-1882) started collecting seriously in the 1850s, sharing a taste for luxury objects of the ancien regime with aristocratic collectors such as the fourth marquess of Hertford and Sir Richard Wallace (founders of London's Wallace Collection), John Bowes (of the Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle) and Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild (of Waddesdon Manor).

The most important French porcelain factory was founded in 1740 in the royal chateau of Vincennes. In 1756 it was transferred to Sèvres, the other side of Paris, and shortly after was bought by Louis XV. The support and protection of the king and his mistress, Madame de Pompadour, enabled it to secure the best artists, sculptors, designers and chemists. Sèvres porcelain soon became the most sought after in Europe.

This shape is listed as 'piédestal à oignon' in the Sèvres factory records, indicating it was intended to be filled with water so that a bulb (probably a hyacinth) could be grown on top. They were often grouped in pairs with other shapes to form sets known as 'garnitures', and placed on mantelpieces and pieces of furniture, often with mirrors behind them, adding to the rich decorative effect. Sèvres produced several different shaped bulb vases. According to Rosalind Savill, this one was introduced in 1756 and was still recorded in the factory records in 1773, although the majority of surviving examples date from 1756-1760.

Rosalind Savill. The Wallace Collection, Catalogue of Sèvres Porcelain